What are your primary job responsibilities?

I teach classes in general, organic and medicinal chemistry, advise many students, run a small research program in antiparasitic drug discovery, contribute to our biochemistry program and our pre-health advising, sometime teach our first-year studies class (mostly writing about the humanities, Plato, etc), lots of committee work (Tenure, Curriculum, etc.), and lots of other random stuff. I recently was program director of our institution-wide HHMI Inclusive Excellence grant program, seeking to make our intro science curricula more effective and more inclusive. 

What is a typical work day-in-your-life like?

I usually keep a little later hours, so I'm in the office 9:30 to 5:30 or so. This term I teach Organic I:  MWF 1:50-3, and labs all day Tuesday (8-4:30). I've got various meetings with committees through the week, office hours both scheduled and not, and some contact with my undergraduate researchers. Grading and some class prep in the evenings. 

How did you find your first job?

An ad in the back of a print copy of C&E News (I am old). 

What level of education (Bachelor's, Masters, PhD, etc.) is required to do your job? 

Ph.D.

What is your work schedule like? Do you ever work weekends or nights?

I'll prep and grade in the evenings, with the occasional Zoom meeting after hours. No real weekend work unless I'm attending something to help out Admissions. 

Do you travel for work? If so, in what capacity, and how often?

Maybe once a year, to a conference or as part of a grant (like our HHMI grant). 

What is your work environment like? Do you work mostly with a team or mostly independently? Do you stand, sit, or move most of the day?

Lots of student contact, constantly moving. Our department has to work well together to keep our instruments working and our curriculum moving. 

What do you like most about your job?

It changes! Sometimes it's research heavy, sometimes it's coming up with the best way to teach acidity, sometimes I'm helping Lawrence U wrestle with big questions. Mostly, it's getting to help really talented young people find their way in the world. 

What are some tools or skills that you can't live without? These can be technologies, soft skills, hardware, or anything else you can think of.

Talking to people! Being a real person that other people, peers and students, can trust.

What skills, traits, talents do you have that you think make you a good fit for your job?

I'm an okay chemist, and that helped me get promotions here, but I feel like this job really uses all of my skills -- connecting with people, counseling, writing, planning, everything I can do and lots that I really can't. 

What's your best productivity trick?

I am not that productive! But the biggest one is to start before you're ready. Most of the time when I'm not as productive as I should be, it's because I don't know how I should do what I need to do -- I'm at my best when I just go, and figure it out as I go. 

What's the best career advice you've ever received? What career advice would you give to someone starting out in your field?

I definitely leaned away from people that could mentor me -- it's why I went to a giant school -- and I wish I could have recognized earlier how important mentorship could be. My advice would be to do better than me to keep those connections. Beyond that, be open to developing new skills and competencies.

How do you build community in your career field? Are you part of any professional organizations?

Local ACS stuff can help, but more informal group chats and book clubs can be just as impactful.

Do you have a favorite memory from your time at the University of Minnesota?

Almost failing a Physics exam because I forgot how long a meterstick was (I just read the "stick" part, I guess?), the smell of anisaldehyde TLC stain, pickup soccer outside Middlebrook (when there was grass there), and lots more.